Views from the Choir Loft

For the Carol Enthusiasts

Veronica Brandt · November 22, 2014

APPY ST CECILIA’S DAY! I hope the day brings you much cake and song. Enjoy Aurelio’s tour of the Church of St Cecilia with Sister Margaret.

Today I thought I’d talk about books of Christmas carols. I’ve mentioned websites like Hymns and Carols of Christmas before, but nothing beats having a paper copy in your hand – or on your music stand.

Books like the Oxford Book of Carols, Faber Book of Carols and the Cambridge Carol-Book will always stand as reference books. Christmas Carols by Karl Schulte seems the most ubiquitous collection ever. The Usborne Book of Christmas Carols is good for people looking for easy piano arrangements.

Silent Night 2 is a little booklet from the Transalpine Redemptorists at Papa Stronsay. Inside are lyrics for many favourite Christmas carols reflecting something of the diversity of the monks. Available here.

But my favourite has to be A Collection of Christmas Carols. Benjamin Bloomfield has collected over 150 Christmas Carols into one book. They are all typed up with Lilypond and hosted with Github.

You can download the pdf.

You can buy a spiral bound copy through Lulu or a regular paperback through Amazon.

You can buy bulk quantities in paperback through Createspace with the wholesale discount.

All available at acollectionofchristmascarols.com.

The photo shows a paperback copy and a home printed and comb bound copy.

And if you’re thinking of buying a spiral bound copy through Lulu: Today through November 24, get 30% off all softcover books with code FLASH30 and 50% off all hardcover books with code HC50.

Remember Jeff’s list of Lulu books here.

I had a go at a list of my own favourites here (including educational and books for children).

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

About Veronica Brandt

Veronica Brandt holds a Bachelor Degree in Electrical Engineering. She lives near Sydney, Australia, with her husband and six children.—(Read full biography).

“Music List” • 6th Sunday of Easter (Year C)

Some have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I prepared for the 6th Sunday of Easter (25 May 2025). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. As always, the Responsorial Psalm, Gospel Acclamation, and propers for this Sunday are provided at the the feasts website.

—Jeff Ostrowski

“Gloria in Spanish” • Free Accompaniment

Several people have requested an organ accompaniment for the GLORY TO GOD which prints the Spanish words directly above the chords. The Spanish adaptation—Gloria a Dios en el cielo—as printed in Roman Misal, tercera edición was adapted from the “Glória in excélsis” from Mass XV (DOMINATOR DEUS). I used to feel that it’s a pretty boring chant … until I heard it sung well by a men’s Schola Cantorum, which changed my view dramatically. This morning, I created this harmonization and dedicated it to my colleague, Corrinne May. You may download it for free. Please let me know if you enjoy it!

—Jeff Ostrowski

How Well Does ICEL Know Latin?

This year, the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul (29 June 2025) will fall on a Sunday. It’s not necessary to be an eminent Latin scholar to be horrified by examples like this, which have been in place since 1970. For the last 55 years, anyone who’s attempted to correct such errors has been threatened with legal action. It is simply unbelievable that the (mandatory) texts of the Holy Mass began being sold for a profit in the 1970s. How much longer will this gruesome situation last?

—Jeff Ostrowski

Antiphons Don’t Match?

A reader wants to know why the Entrance and Communion antiphons in certain publications deviate from what’s prescribed by the GRADUALE ROMANUM published after Vatican II. Click here to read our answer. The short answer is: the Adalbert Propers were never intended to be sung. They were intended for private Masses only (or Masses without music). The “Graduale Parvum,” published by the John Henry Newman Institute of Liturgical Music in 2023, mostly uses the Adalbert Propers—but sometimes uses the GRADUALE text: e.g. Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul (29 June).

—Corpus Christi Watershed

When to Sit, Stand and Kneel like it’s 1962

There are lots of different guides to postures for Mass, but I couldn’t find one which matched our local Latin Mass, so I made this one: sit-stand-kneel-crop

—Veronica Brandt

The Funeral Rites of the Graduale Romanum

Lately I have been paging through the 1974 Graduale Romanum (see p. 678 ff.) and have been fascinated by the funeral rites found therein, especially the simply-beautiful Psalmody that is appointed for all the different occasions before and after the funeral Mass: at the vigil/wake, at the house of the deceased, processing to the church, at the church, processing to the cemetery, and at the cemetery. Would that this “stational Psalmody” of the Novus Ordo funeral rites saw wider usage! If you or anyone you know have ever used it, please do let me know.

—Daniel Tucker